A salute to a great patriot, and a true friend
To the Times: Long before political dinners and fundraisers and alliances to capture Delco votes, there was a woman whose deepest interest was to inspire and promote others and share her abundant wisdom and quest for excellence.
I met Faith Ryan Whittlesey as a young attorney while she was pregnant with her youngest child, William. It was a time when expectant mothers were expected to rest and take maternity leave ... that is, if the woman worked at all. At the time, Faith was one of only two women in the Philadelphia U.S. Attorney’s Office and on the day she delivered William, she was handling conscientious objector prosecutions in the midst of the Vietnam War, a testament to her sense of duty and fortitude. She later told me it was one of her gravest regrets, after she became a convert to an avid antiwar stance and rallied against hawkish chestbeating and overtures.
But, I am digressing into the tempting route of recounting her politics. Her political views are not important here. This memoir is about Faith, the woman, and my friend. It is not an exaggeration to say that she would move mountains if she actually could, to do a favor or kindness for a friend. I benefited from her colossal heart because she bestowed on me the term “dearest friend” almost 50 years ago. Humorously, on her deathbed, when we were reminiscing, she scolded me and said “don’t say 50, we will at the sound too old!” Her humor was boundless, as I think over her big, beautiful smile and authentic laughter. Whether we were in her office at the White House, Union League in New York, at a diplomatic greeting room in Beijing, or at a blue grass festival in Florida, she was not Madame Ambassador, but at the core, just Faith, smiling and making every moment joyful, quipping incisive insights with kindness and humor, and making every moment a cherished happy memory.
Her efforts and desire to make others happy was not easy, since it masked great personal sorrow and loss. But, that was Faith, always thinking of others, always making the moment as good as it could be. Even with her seriously declining health and terrible pain, only a few weeks before she died, she insisted on showing me Trump International Hotel in D.C. and having dinner. We ordered, but her pain was too great, and almost immediately, we had to take our dinner back to her apartment. But that was Faith, always doing her best, never, ever compromising, loving her friends with her whole heart. She embraced her friends with fierce loyalty that could never be matched. I used to call it the “Faith Shield.” She would battle any and all who attempted to hurt those she loved.
To say I will miss her, is of course, an understatement. The United States and the entire world lost a great patriot, the universe lost a pure soul, but I, and others, lost a dearest friend. Jeanne Marie Cella, Media